authenticity Archives | A Life in Progress

You Have Permission to FEEL Angry

Jul 11, 2020 6 Comments

Inside: We need PERMISSION TO FEEL and the ability to name emotion in order to move through it. Only by moving through it are we able to process and grow. The vulnerable work of moving toward wholeness or integration, of examining our identity and embracing the fullness of who we are and how we came to this point of our life, of wrestling with shadow and learning to tell the truth, can only be done as we also deepen our skills of emotional literacy and self-compassion. We need permission to […]

Life is Short: Make Space for What You Truly Want and Need

May 15, 2020 Leave a Comment

Inside: In just one heartbeat life can change forever so I choose to live each day as though it could be my last. I declutter my life to make space for what I truly want and need. Despite the imperfection, grief, and messiness of it all, I love my life and family. But loss reminds me every time I walk through it that life is far shorter than we often realize. In one breath or one heartbeat, life can change forever. I want to live each day on purpose. I […]

5 Habits to Help You Show Up Strong When You Must Begin Again

Mar 28, 2020 11 Comments

Inside: Forced or willingly there come times in life when we familiar ground falls away and we are thrust into turbulence or transition. These 5 habits can help you show up strong if you must begin again. In times of turbulence or transition, the structure and flow of our daily life shifts, familiar ground falls away, and we are ushered into a new beginning. This past fall, after a long horrific battle to keep my son alive, after he left this world, I was forced to begin again. From crisis […]

Trail of Myths: Finding Our Way to Enough

Jan 13, 2020 15 Comments

Inside: Questioning our unhelpful stories – the myths that present in the form of false notions or mistaken beliefs – helps us find our way to “enough”. This is a guest post from Heidi Barr. Here the forest floor has a carpet of hepatica, trillium, bloodroot, dutchman’s breeches, and bellwort, a tangle of white, purple, yellow and green as spring blooms open with the season. Adolescent skunk cabbage and uncurling ferns cast a tint of green as far as the eye can see, everything reaching toward the sun’s nourishment. Walking […]

Holding Your Breath: When Your Child Dies

Nov 26, 2019 31 Comments

TW: suicide, depression, grief I’ve started an art scholarship in my son Jairus’ name: there are three ways you can contribute to the scholarship. xo I’m choosing to process some of my grief out loud. First, it is helping me when I feel like I’ll explode with rage or pain. Second, maybe it’ll help another parent feel less alone. This is a very personal journey. Please click away if reading about someone else’s loss – and particulary the topic of suicide – will be triggering for you right now. ******** When […]

Ordinary Magic

Nov 15, 2019 13 Comments

Inside: I think magic comes in the ordinary – for those willing to see. Do you want more space or permission to pause and notice the ordinary magic of your life? The streets are black apart from the meager light cast by the streetlamps. But this is more than enough light to illuminate the sparkle of the snowflakes as they begin to fall. You sense magic in the air. You throw on a tuque and warm mitts, lace up fuzzy boots, and head out for an impromptu night-time stroll. You […]

On Holding Space for Ourselves

Sep 29, 2019 40 Comments

I was in a bad car accident yesterday and by all accounts should not have walked away spirit and body bruised but whole and very much alive. It’s hard to type. Both wrists and arms hurt when I use them. But I process in writing so I think this is the kindest thing I can do for myself this morning. One person’s choice almost left my children parentless in the span of one heartbeat. Just one. That’s all it takes. But here I am. Very much awake. I feel. I […]

Tag Archives: authenticity